The Holy Land: Days 5-6

There was much thought and planning put in to the itinerary for our trip to Israel. We sought out our home church pastor who is an expert tour guide having led numerous groups to Israel. Thank you Craig! Our friends who live there had more insights to consider and were great in steering us to less traveled places. Then of course Jonathan had his bucket list locations to add to the mix. Not having the opportunity (i.e. money) to participate in an organised tour group we invested in the video series called "That the World May Know" by Ray Vander Laan to prepare us for this self-guided tour.  In the absence of a guide, we felt these videos prepared us well for what we saw. The preview of sorts aided us in narrowing down our itinerary and in some cases expanding it. It was immensely helpful for the kids because we could easily refer them to the videos and what Ray said as we visited sites. We are now re-watching the series for the second time and can appreciate the lessons even more after our return. We would highly recommend the series.

Now back to the tour with a portion of the second half of our trip. We began the new year in northern Israel where we spent two nights in Tiberias that serves as a central location for exploring the northern region. The weekend was rainy and cold, but overall those two factors did not hinder our experience...except to make us walk faster to beat the incoming storms or to keep warm. God continued to hold his umbrella over us all along the way.  

DAY 5: Saturday, January 2 

We got an early start to the day and headed about 30 miles north of the Sea of Galilee to Caesarea Philippi which is at the base of Mount Hermon and close to the borders of Syria and Lebanon.

Caesarea Philippi was the location of the Grotto of Pan, the place of the pagan Gate of Hades. It was in this area that the first king of Israel (Jeroboam) led the northern kingdom of Israel into idolatry. This was also the same place where the Greeks and Romans received revelations from the god Pan who was mentioned in classical writings as a "seer" or fortune teller and a giver of revelations.   

Caesarea Philippi was mentioned only twice in the Bible, both referring to the same event where Jesus chose to reveal to His disciples that He was the Messiah. He also announced His coming death in Jerusalem and the end of His earthly ministry and beginning of theirs.   

At Caesarea Philippi Jesus turned to His disciples and asked them who the multitudes thought He was. They responded that some thought He was John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asked them who they thought He was and Peter answered, "you are the Christ the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:15-16). Jesus blessed Peter and revealed to them "upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18

In front of the "gates of Hades"

The "rock" upon which Christ promised to build his church

Just a few miles west is Tell Dan, the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel belonging to the Tribe of Dan. The nature reserve is absolutely beautiful with its lush vegetation and one of the sources of the Jordan river. There are many trails to walk that take you through the remains of the Canaanite and Israelite cities and the high place where Jeroboam erected the golden calf. 

Near the source of the Jordan river

Tel Dan nature reserve

Outside the city walls of Dan

Exploring the ancient city

In I Kings 12:28-31, the Bible described the acts of Jeroboam son of Nebat, erecting a golden calf and building an altar in Dan. The purpose of the the ritual place was to serve as an alternative worship site for Jerusalem, after dividing the Kingdom.

The sacrificial altar

On the steps leading up to the high place where the golden calf would have been placed.

If the clouds weren't so threatening we could have stayed longer at this national park. It was so peaceful and fun being the only visitors on the 120 acre nature reserve. However, we returned to the car and headed back towards to the Sea of Galilee in order to get to the Mt. of Beatitudes before they closed the gates for lunch.

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee

The Church of the Beatitudes

Lookout from the hill

Up the hill just a bit further is Chorazin. We needed a place to eat our picnic lunch so we stopped here to fill our tummies while Jonathan made the sole entrance into this site.

Synagogue of Chorazin

Chorazin, along with Bethsaida and Capernaum, were villages in which Jesus performed many mighty works. However, because these towns rejected his work, they were subsequently cursed (Matthew 11:20-24).

View of the Sea of Galilee from Chorazin

Two and a half miles back down the hill and we arrived at the ancient fishing village of Capernaum along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, Andrew, James and John were resident fisherman called by Jesus to follow him along with Matthew the tax collector. This is where Jesus lived and performed many miracles such as the healing of the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10), Peter's mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-30); the paralytic who was lowered through the roof (Mark 2:1-12), and many others who were brought to him (Mt 8:16-17). And it was from Capernaum that Jesus had sailed when he calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27).

Peter's House

Residential area

Olive Press

The synagogue where Jesus taught and performed many miracles at is located near Peter's house. The  synagogue dates from after the time of Jesus, but it was built on the original basalt foundation which can still be seen.

We weren't expecting that we would have so much time left after visiting Capernaum, so we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to fit in a drive to Gamla in the Golan Heights. The road leads you high above the Sea of Galilee and not very far from the Syrian border. A wild boar ran across the road as we were ascending and an abandoned tank with cattle grazing around it caused us to stop and say "you don't see that everyday."

Gamla is located on a camel shaped ridge with two gorges on either side. Sometimes called "the Masada of the north", it was the place where a community of Jewish rebels resisted the Romans until their tragic end in 67AD.

Cliffs where Griffin Vultures live

Roman catapult

We did not have time to descend the path to visit the remains of the city, but that did not affect our enjoyment of this location. There are griffin vultures that live among the cliffs and we enjoyed watching them soar in the sky. Did you know that our English version of Isaiah 40:31 is translated incorrectly? In the Hebrew it says "...they will soar on wings like griffin vultures..." Their wing span is greater than that of an eagle at 7.5-9.2 feet wide. We were impressed!

Bethsaida was another quick stop on our way back to Tiberius. We had a brief scare when the car keys got locked in the trunk. Thankfully a side door was still unlocked and we were able to access the trunk through the backseat. Whew! 

City Gate

Although some debate continues regarding the exact location of Bethsaida, the excavation of the city was well done and presented. A fisherman's house and a winemaker's house were discovered here. Disciples Peter, Andrew and Philip were from Bethsaida. The feeding of the 5,000 by Jesus may have happened in the plains of Bethsaida. 

Sacrificial high place

The ruins of Bethsaida were used as a Syrian military post until 1967

In Ginosar, there is an ancient fishing boat on display dating back to the first century that was discovered in the Sea of Galilee during a drought in 1986. They call this the "Jesus boat" due to its dating in history.

We stopped at a grocery store in Migdal (ancient Magdala) in order to make dinner at the apartment. We were ready to rest and warm up from a chilly day. 

DAY 6: Sunday, January 3

We rose early to prepare for our departure and were on the road again by 7:30. Today we definitely started to feel our tiredness. I kept thinking of the poor US tourists that do all this site seeing on top of jet lag. At least we didn't have that factor to add on our journey!

We drove through the city of Nazareth, now a very modern city. Outside the city is Mount Precipice, traditionally believed to be the site of the story recounted in Luke 4 in which the angry mob drove Jesus from the Synagogue and attempted to throw him off the cliffs, and Jesus disappeared before their eyes from their midst.

From here we could view Mount Tabor, Mount Moreh and the Jezreel Valley below. 

Megiddo was our next destination. A strategically located city, Megiddo controlled the end of the Iron Valley in the heart of the ancient Via Maris (the Way of the Sea), a trade route that linked Egypt and Damascus. Megiddo was taken from the Egyptians by the Israelites during the time of King David, and the city flourished during the time of King Solomon and King Ahab. Megiddo is also identified with Armageddon in Revelation 16:14-21, the scene of the battle of the End of Days.

City Gate 

Israelite-era house

Canaanite-era sacrificial altar (circle of rocks)

Cross-section of the tel revealing many layers of civilizations built one on top of another

We were not allowed to walk in the underground water tunnel built by King Solomon due to the flooding that occurred with the recent rain.

We kept missing the major downpours of rain at each site we visited so far, however, our time on Mt. Carmel was quite the opposite. The Carmelite Monastery provided some protection from the winds and heavy rain and a place to read the story from I Kings of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

We are told there are amazing views of the plain of Esdraelon and southern Galilee but the visibility was pretty bad with the rain, which also prohibited us from seeing the Kishon brook, where Elijah took the priests of Baal and had them put to death.

Our next destination was Caesarea on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Upon our arrival it was raining so we decided to eat our lunch in the car in hopes that the weather would clear up. Unfortunately, it only got worse as soon as we entered the park. For the first time on the trip I pulled out my rain poncho but that only made matters worse as the winds were catching it and whipping it around my face, making such a horrendously loud noise that I could not hear a single thing. Jonathan and I were yelling at each other trying to determine what we should do but I could not hear him on top of the raging crashing waves. We high tailed it back to the entrance gift shop so we could converse about what to do. Within 5 minutes, the sun was out and the rain had passed! You could not ask for a better view of the sea and sky in my opinion.

Mosaics decorating the floors of the Herodian city

At Herod's palace with a view of the man-made harbour

The possible site of Paul's defence and appeal to Caesar

Bath houses

It actually felt quite warm after the rain stopped and the kids could not resist getting wet by the waves hitting the retaining walls. We let them have their fun getting drenched, and then we went sea shell collecting.

Caesarea is absolutely beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed this national park. King Herod the Great transformed the city beginning in 22 BC with the construction of its sophisticated port, warehouses, markets, great streets, bathhouses, temples, amphitheatre and more. 

Hippodrome where chariot races took place

One of the sections of the Herodian aqueduct that provided water to Caesarea still stands on a nearby beach.

With wet and weary bodies we decided to call it a day and head back to our friends' house in Jerusalem. They had recovered from the flu, thankfully and the kids were excited to be reunited and play with their friends.